A black rhino, poached for its horn, is found dead at Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. It is suspected that the killers came from a local community approximately five kilometers away, entering the park illegally, shooting the rhino at a water hole with a high-powered, silenced hunting rifle.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

May 20, 2016

A black rhino, poached for its horn, is found dead at Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. It is suspected that the killers came from a local community approximately five kilometers away, entering the park illegally, shooting the rhino at a water hole with a high-powered, silenced hunting rifle.

A combined force of Sabie Game Park Rangers, Garda Frontier soldiers and Fauna Bravia soldiers detain Moses Chauque, believed to have been arranging weapons and transport for rhino poachers, in Mozambiqe. There were multiple arrest warrants for Chauque, both in Mozambique and South Africa.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

April 9, 2016

A combined force of Sabie Game Park Rangers, Garda Frontier soldiers and Fauna Bravia soldiers detain Moses Chauque, believed to have been arranging weapons and transport for rhino poachers, in Mozambiqe. There were multiple arrest warrants for Chauque, both in Mozambique and South Africa.

Sabie Game Park Village Police member Nomsa Nduvane (38) sits in her home in Macacasar, on the Mozambique-South Africa border. The village has been known to shelter poachers running from the authorities. Nduvane walks more than 21 kilometers of game fence every few days, as part of an initiative set up by the anti-poaching team at Sabie Game Park.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

April 5, 2016

Sabie Game Park Village Police member Nomsa Nduvane (38) sits in her home in Macacasar, on the Mozambique-South Africa border. The village has been known to shelter poachers running from the authorities. Nduvane walks more than 21 kilometers of game fence every few days, as part of an initiative set up by the anti-poaching team at Sabie Game Park.

A rhino cow is captured and moved into transport for relocation from a game farm near Grahamstown, South Africa, to a more secure facility. She was one of the last of 27 rhino being moved away from game farms in the region, where it was feared that security is inadequate to protect them from poachers.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

May 16, 2016

A rhino cow is captured and moved into transport for relocation from a game farm near Grahamstown, South Africa, to a more secure facility. She was one of the last of 27 rhino being moved away from game farms in the region, where it was feared that security is inadequate to protect them from poachers.

Rhino rancher Dawie Groenewald, on his game farm in Polokwane, South Africa. He is one of the driving forces behind the effort to legalize the rhino trade. Groenewald is the subject of a six-year-old court case involving multiple charges related to illegal rhino horn theft and money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

April 27, 2016

Rhino rancher Dawie Groenewald, on his game farm in Polokwane, South Africa. He is one of the driving forces behind the effort to legalize the rhino trade. Groenewald is the subject of a six-year-old court case involving multiple charges related to illegal rhino horn theft and money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing.

Dorota Ladosz comforts a baby rhino after surgery, at a sanctuary run by Care for Wild Africa, in Mbombela, South Africa. The orphaned animal was attacked by hyenas after its mother had been killed by poachers.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

May 4, 2016

Dorota Ladosz comforts a baby rhino after surgery, at a sanctuary run by Care for Wild Africa, in Mbombela, South Africa. The orphaned animal was attacked by hyenas after its mother had been killed by poachers.

Dehorned rhino graze in a supplementary feeding area on John Hume’s ranch, near Klerksdorp, South Africa. Hume is reputed to have five tons of horn in storage, worth around US $40 million on the Asian market.

Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

May 24, 2016

Dehorned rhino graze in a supplementary feeding area on John Hume’s ranch, near Klerksdorp, South Africa. Hume is reputed to have five tons of horn in storage, worth around US $40 million on the Asian market.

Rhino Wars

Nature, first prize stories

April 9, 2016

A combined force of Sabie Game Park Rangers, Garda Frontier soldiers and Fauna Bravia soldiers detain Moses Chauque, believed to have been arranging weapons and transport for rhino poachers, in Mozambiqe. There were multiple arrest warrants for Chauque, both in Mozambique and South Africa.

Demand in Asia for rhino horn—traditionally valued for its medicinal properties—is rising steeply, as increasing prosperity in the region means more people can afford to pay the extremely high prices involved. This puts growing pressure on a species already threatened with extinction. In 2007, South Africa, home to 70 percent of the world’s rhinos, reported losing just 13 to poachers; by 2015 that had risen to 1,175. Unlike elephant tusks, rhino horn grows back when cut properly. Rhino rancher John Hume is among those attempting to end the international ban on trading in rhino horn, and to farm rhinos commercially, a move fiercely opposed by conservationists, who say a legal trade could doom rhinos.

Brent Stirton

About the photographer

Brent Stirton

Brent Stirton is the senior correspondent for Getty Images and Verbatim Photo.

Brent Stirton is the senior correspondent for Getty Images and Verbatim Photo.

He does most of his work for National Geographic Magazine, Human Rights Watch, Le Figaro, GEO and other international titles.

Brent shoots issues related to the environment, to diminishing resources and on global health issues. His commercial clients include Coke, Nike, and Novartis, amongst others.

Interviews

An interview with South African photographer Brent Stirton about his two prizes from the 2012 World Press Photo Contest. First, he discusses his photo story about the growing market for rhino horn. Then, he talks about his photo of Maria, a drug-addicted sex work in Ukraine.